Technology news trend: July 2018

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

California wildfire: Firefighters gain ground on devastating inferno as victims' families reel from loss

Firefighters in northern California have finally begun gaining ground on the massive wildfire that has claimed at least six lives after doubling over the weekend – fuelled by hot, dry conditions and swift winds that pushed the flames. The family of a 70-year-old woman and two children killed by the massive fires, for instance, described the final moments of their loved ones, with the woman trying in vain to save her two great-grandchildren using a wet blanket at their house outside of Redding. The victims were identified by relatives as James Roberts, five, his sister Emily, four, and their great grandmother, Melody Bledsoe, 70.

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Minneapolis Police Release Bodycam Video From the Fatal Blevins Shooting

Footage shows the man shot from behind after a frenetic foot chase

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Pakistan opposition party calls for investigation of election 'rigging'

By Mubasher Bukhari LAHORE (Reuters) - Pakistan's main opposition party called on Sunday for a judicial investigation into what it said was rigging at an election this week that it lost. During the campaign, Sharif said the military had influenced the judiciary to deny him a second term.

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Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) Stock Rises on Record Earnings

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) stock traded by as much as 2.7 percent higher on Monday morning after the company reported record second-quarter earnings and raised its full-year guidance. Investors cheered the strong quarter, but analysts say there is clear evidence Caterpillar's growth is slowing. Caterpillar reported second-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $2.97 on revenue of $14.01 billion.

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Space photos show fires tormenting bone-dry California

Triple-digit temperatures and parched land have left much of California's expansive forests vulnerable to any spark or flame. The Carr Fire, which started on July 23 after a vehicle caught fire, has spread to nearly 100,000 acres as of July 30. From hundreds of miles above, satellite images show a state besieged by an imposing plume of smoke, with a vast part of the region blanketed in a thick, brown haze. SEE ALSO: Redding newspaper lost power amid extreme fire, but still found a way to print the news Vegetation in the drought-ridden terrain around the City of Redding, where the Carr Fire has prompted thousands to flee and has taken at least six lives, is now exceptionally dry. NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of the California fire's smoke spreading to Utah.Image: NASAIn fact, it's likely approaching either near-record or record dryness levels in Northern California, said Brenda Belongie, lead meteorologist of the U.S. Forest Service's Predictive Services in Northern California, who works and lives in Redding. NOAA's #GOES17 satellite saw smoke from the #wildfires in northern #California late yesterday, note the high white clouds blowing over the brown-colored smoke beneath. This week a dangerous heatwave with triple digit temps is expected to exacerbate the situation. pic.twitter.com/NhroaD3RuB — NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) July 30, 2018 While any fire is the result of a confluence of weather events — notably gusty winds, human carelessness, and lack of rain — California's forests have been subjected to both heat waves and sustained periods of notably hot temperatures, both of which are enhanced by climate change. Check out this airplane view of the #CarrFire. https://t.co/eXPNS1wnh8 — NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) July 27, 2018 "In California, persistent heat and dryness increased fire danger," wrote the U.S. Drought Monitor on July 24, the day after the Carr fire began. In particular, the area around Redding is experiencing conditions worse than "abnormally dry," and is now listed as experiencing "moderate drought." As temperatures heat up this afternoon across #NorCal, we're seeing an increase in fire activity. Here's the latest #GOES16 Fire Temperature product #CarrFire #RiverFire #RanchFire #MendocinoComplex #cawx pic.twitter.com/TaikChKmSo — NWS Sacramento (@NWSSacramento) July 29, 2018 Much of the entire heat-stricken Northern Hemisphere has recently experienced record heat waves or above-average summer temperatures. Redding could be experiencing its warmest July on record, according to KRCR News meteorologist Rob Elvington. Northern Hemisphere temperature anomalies during summertime (land-only)...[1900-2017 June/July/August 2-m T data from @BerkeleyEarth] pic.twitter.com/rkmLUwJPQS — Zack Labe (@ZLabe) July 29, 2018 Redding's scorching 2018 summer isn't an anomaly. Each of the city's last June-July average temperatures for the last five years have been among the five hottest on record, noted Elvington. These conditions have helped further dry out the land and spawn a fire that leapt over the Sacramento River last week. Those conditions also stoked a towering vortex that propelled the Carr Fire's own violent weather system. "This is a large and dangerous plume dominated fire in which spreading is not driven by the wind, but rather the fire itself," the National Weather Service wrote over the weekend. Smoke plume is now breaking through the nocturnal inversion. Fire activity will likely increasing with more venting. #CarrFire pic.twitter.com/rqr1gSqsBG — Rob Elvington (@RobElvington) July 27, 2018 During the day, satellite images have picked up the fire's towering plume, which exploded to over 20,000 feet in around 40 minutes. Here is another radar rendering of the #CarrFire plume during the destructive vortex. The plume undergoes rapid vertical development, growing from 6 to 12 km (19->39Kft) in 40 min. Thats a lot of stretching and a possible explanation for vortex intensification. #CAwx #CAfire pic.twitter.com/1CTHAvl6Di — Neil Lareau (@nplareau) July 29, 2018 The Carr Fire can also be seen easily from space at night, where it appears as bright as the Golden State's sprawling cities. The #SuomiNPP satellite captured this image of smoke from the #California wildfires this morning - including the large #FergusonFire, which has grown to 43,000 acres and closed parts of #Yosemite National Park. pic.twitter.com/wCfCkUTO4b — NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) July 26, 2018 Man the #CarrFire is scary. New infrared imagery now that GOES-16 is back up. #CAfire pic.twitter.com/Mw4IQ7EVYQ — Rob Elvington (@RobElvington) July 27, 2018 California's dramatic 2018 fire season, which forced a smoke-filled Yosemite National Park to close its iconic valley and brought flames back to the region's wine country, follows the state's harrowing 2017 season — its worst fire season on record. WATCH: Ever wonder how the universe might end?

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Minneapolis police release body cam footage from Thurman Blevins shooting

Minneapolis police have released body cam footage of the moment a black man was shot from behind while running from police. The death of 31-year-old Thurman Blevins ignited a familiar debate around police violence in his community, where family members have called for the officers involved to be prosecuted. The incident is under investigation by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, but Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey released the body cam footage early, under pressure from Minneapolis residents and all 13 city council members.

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Former FEMA Executive Investigated For Sexual Misconduct

A former personnel chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is being

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California wildfires: Six dead and tens of thousands forced to flee homes

Firefighters are rushing against uncertain weather forecasts to contain a multitude of wildfires in northern California that have already claimed the lives of at least six people and forced 50,000 to flee their homes. With hot, dry conditions and high winds fuelling the blazes, 12,000 firefighters have been drafted in to try to contain 17 wildfires that have destroyed buildings in its path – including the home of a fire chief. As those firefighters continued to fight the blaze, families of the dead on Sunday told their harrowing tales of loss.

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Minneapolis Police Were Justified in Killing Black Man, Prosecutor Says

The county attorney said 'the decision to use deadly force' was authorized

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Rudy Giuliani Stuns Fox News Hosts With Rambling Account Of Trump Tower Meetings

Rudy Giuliani baffled Fox News hosts Monday when he attempted to clarify

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'Not Just A Paper Pusher': Former White House Staff Secretaries Weigh In On Kavanaugh Fight

WASHINGTON ― Republicans say the Senate does not need to see documents related

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CBS leaves accused CEO in place, for now

US television giant CBS announced Monday that it would select outside lawyers to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct lodged against CEO Leslie Moonves but declined to take further immediate action on his fate. Moonves, who transformed CBS into a ratings winner after joining the network in 1995, is one of the most powerful American men implicated in the #MeToo era that ignited last year after the career implosion of Harvey Weinstein. A New Yorker article published Friday revealed allegations from six women who said Leslie Moonves sexually harassed them between the 1980s and late 2000s.

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Northern California wildfire forces thousands to evacuate

California firefighters on Monday were gaining ground on a massive blaze that has killed six people and destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses, while rescuers searched for seven people unaccounted for in the wildfire. The Carr Fire, outside Redding, California, ignited a week ago and doubled in size over the weekend, charring an area the size of Detroit, forcing 38,000 people to flee their homes and claiming lives of two firefighters and another person, as well as a woman and her two young great-grandchildren. Centered 150 miles (240 km) north of Sacramento, it is the deadliest of the 90 wildfires burning across the United States.

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A Trio Stole a Live Shark From a San Antonio Aquarium by Disguising It as a Baby

They grabbed the horn shark straight out of the open tank

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Polar bear shot dead after attacking cruise ship tour guide as climate change pushes predators closer to human habitats

Norwegian authorities said a polar bear on Saturday attacked and injured a polar bear guard who was leading tourists off a cruise ship on an Arctic archipelago. The polar bear was shot dead by another employee, the cruise company said. The Joint Rescue Coordination for Northern Norway tweeted that the attack occurred when the tourists from the MS Bremen cruise ship landed on the most northern island of the Svalbard archipelago, a region between mainland Norway and the North Pole that is known for its remote terrain, glaciers, reindeer and polar bears. The German Hapag Lloyd Cruises company, which operates the MS Bremen, told The Associated Press that two polar bear guards from their ship went on the island and one of them "was attacked by a polar bear and injured on his head." The polar bear was then shot dead "in an act of self-defense" by the second guard, spokeswoman Negar Etminan said. The injured man was taken by helicopter to the town of Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen island. He was not identified and no further information was given on him. Polar bear guards travel with most cruises in the Arctic Credit: Peter Bischoff "He was flown out, was responsive, and is currently undergoing medical treatment," Etminan said, adding that the victim was not in a life-threatening condition. She said all cruise ships traveling in the northern region are obliged to have polar bear guards aboard. Svalbard - locator map Arctic tourism to the region has risen sharply in the last few years and is now in high season. A Longyearbyen port schedule showed that 18 cruise ships will be docking at the Arctic port in the next week.

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Coming Soon: North Korea's Nukes Could Go Underwater

As in ballistic missile submarines.

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Bernie Sanders calls study projecting trillion dollar costs for universal healthcare 'grossly misleading'

“This grossly misleading and biased report is the Koch brothers response to the growing support in our country for a ‘Medicare for all’ program,” the veteran Vermont senator said. The Mercatus Center at George Mason University published the study earlier this week with projections on Mr Sanders’ single-payer health care program that guarantees health care coverage to all Americans. “Doubling all currently projected federal individual and corporate income tax collections would be insufficient to finance the added federal costs of the plan,” the study read in part.

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Trump Again Threatens To Shut Down His Own Government Over Wall Funding

President Donald Trump on Sunday embraced shutting down the federal government

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How to prepare for wildfires so you can escape safely if a blaze approaches

Wildfires can ignite and spread suddenly, as high winds can fan flames, so being prepared to evacuate at a moment's notice could be the key to survival.

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EU observers offer mixed picture of first Zimbabwe vote since Mugabe's fall

By MacDonald Dzirutwe and Joe Brock HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe held its first election on Monday since former president Robert Mugabe was ousted in a de facto coup and European Union observers said the vote was "very smooth" in some places and "totally disorganised" in others. A credible election after Mugabe's 37-year rule is essential if Zimbabwe is to exit painful sanctions imposed on the government and secure the donor funding and investment needed to stem chronic cash shortages. Elmar Brok, the EU's chief observer, said many voters, particularly young women, left voting queues in frustration at long delays.

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After prison release, Palestinian teen considers law study

NABI SALEH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi, who became an international symbol of resistance to Israeli occupation after slapping two soldiers, walked out of an Israeli prison Sunday and told throngs of journalists and well-wishers that she now wants to study law to defend her people.

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Harley-Davidson unveils new range of electric motorbikes and an electric bicycle

Harley-Davidson unveiled on Monday its first ever electric motorcycles and an electric bicycle, in what is being seen as the most radical shakeup of the struggling company in its 115-year-history. Matt Levatich, CEO of the Milwaukee-based company, said the new products were designed in response to changing times. “We are not running away from our core,” he said. The electric motorcycle range will include several of what Mr Levatich called “lightweight, urban” transportation products that are designed specifically to appeal to “young adults, globally, living in dense urban spaces.” In 2014 the company signalled its interest in electric motorbikes with the LiveWire electric prototype, which will go on sale next summer. Earlier this year the company announced an investment in electric motorcycle company Alta Motors. Harley-Davidson's Kansas City plant will close later this year, with the loss of 800 jobs Credit: Neville Elder for The Telegraph On Monday they presented as many as five more electric models - including lightweight, urban bikes – which will be on sale by 2022. They also unveiled their electric bicycle. Harley-Davidson's LiveWire electric bike The company revealed plans to promote its motorbikes in emerging markets, with a small motorcycle model introduced in India in the next two years; a series of middleweight bikes in 2020 in Europe; and an expansion of ranges and distribution in China. At the same time, the company will attempt to retain market dominance with the classic Harleys - full-size touring and cruiser motorcycles - that are the backbone of its international sales. “We are shifting our mindset from ‘we build bikes’ to ‘we build riders,’” said Mr Levatich, 53, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. Donald Trump invited Harley-Davidson executives to the White House in February 2017, and was infuriated when they moved some production to Europe He also defended his company’s decision, much criticised by President Donald Trump, to meet increased European Union tariffs by expanding production operations overseas. “Our preference is to make motorcycles in the US for the world market,” he said. “But at the same time, we have to protect our business and preserve our market strength and serve our customers.” The company says that its new models are a survival strategy. According to its 2018 second-quarter report, released last week, Harley domestic sales fell 6.4 per cent from the same period in 2017. “This whole plan to create new riders is a bold, ambitious and bordering-on-audacious goal,” said Mr Levatich. “But there is no other option.”

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Rudy Giuliani Mysteriously Tweets 'You' -- So Twitter Users Hilariously Fill In The Blank

Rudy Giuliani tweeted the word "you" with zero explanation on Sunday, and

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Rand Paul Says He'll Support Brett Kavanaugh's Nomination To Supreme Court

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced on Monday he will support the nomination of

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Cambodia ruling party claims landslide election win after opposition banned in 'sham' vote

Cambodia's ruling party said it had won a landslide in Sunday's one-horse election, an expected outcome after the main opposition was banned paving the way for leader Hun Sen to prolong his 33 years in power. Hun Sen, who came to power in 1985 in a country still plagued by civil war, has cracked down on dissent in the run-up to this year's poll, pressuring civil society, independent media and political opponents. That left him with little competition and no serious challengers. Cambodian People's Party (CPP) spokesman Sok Eysan told AFP late Sunday they expected to win "over 100 seats" in the 125-seat parliament, citing preliminary figures from the National Election Committee. "The CPP will get more than 80 percent of the popular vote," he said. "This is a huge victory for us." Hun Sen, 65, a one-time defector from the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, has pointed to stability and growth as the fruits of his rule - a message that resonates with his base. Freedom index rank: Cambodia "Compatriots have chosen the democratic path and used your rights," he said on his Facebook page after polls closed in an apparent swipe at the opposition, which called for a boycott. Voter turnout was 82 percent, according to the election committee, surpassing the final figure in 2013 of roughly 69 percent when the opposition took part. Pictures of spoiled ballots circulated on social media, though they could not be independently verified. AFP correspondents saw dozens of blank ballots set aside during counting. "I did not go to vote. I slept at home," said Khem Chan Vannak, a former commune chief elected with the now-banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). "A lot of my friends did not go to vote." The CNRP appealed to Cambodians not to vote in the "sham election that has no support and is not recognised by the international community".

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On retirement question, Justice Ginsburg has go-to answers

WASHINGTON (AP) — For more than a decade, audiences and interviewers have had one pressing question for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: When will you retire?

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Africa's tarnished jewel: how four decades of Robert Mugabe left Zimbabwe's economy reeling

As Zimbabweans head to the polls for the presidential election on Monday July 30, the outcome has never been less certain. Emmerson Mnangagwa, the president who came to power by overthrowing his long time boss and ally Robert Mugabe in November, bets that Zimbabweans will back him as the safest pair of hands to repair the country’s ruined economy and usher in an era of national renewal. Nelson Chamisa, the young leader of the Movement of Democratic Change, hopes to pull off an upset by offering a completely fresh start and persuading voters to punish the ruling Zanu PF party - including Mr Mnangagwa - for decades of misrule. But whoever wins next week will inherit a legacy of massive economic mismanagement, profound demographic changes, and a rapidly changing international landscape. Emmerson Mnangagwa sworn in as Zimbabwe's new president Mr Mugabe came to power on a surge of optimism in independence in 1980. With the end of a long and bloody war against the minority white rule in what was until then Rhodesia, there was a sense that the country known as the jewel of Africa had an opportunity to shine. Blessed with rich natural resources, a diversified economy, and a literate population, Zimbabwe seemed poised to outperform all of its neighbours. And as a frontline state in the Cold War and the struggle against Apartheid South Africa, Zimbabwe enjoyed considerable diplomatic significance. Robert Mugabe Credit: ODD ANDERSEN/AFP Mr Mugabe made early moves to reconcile with the remaining white population, briefly appeared ready to heal rifts in the black liberation movement, and launched a rapid expansion of education and social programs. But the massacre of political rivals in the 1980s, eviction of white farmers in the early 2000s, and increasingly flagrant corruption and economic mismanagement undid much of his early achievements. With the end of the Cold War and the fall of South Africa's apartheid regime in the early 1990s, Harare ceased to command the interest of the world's superpowers. Nearly 40 years on, reconciliation has been marred by brutal campaigns it has fallen behind its peers in almost all economic indicators, lost hundreds of thousands of people to emigration, and is trying to heal the wounds of years of violent political repression. Economy In 1980, Mr Mugabe inherited a relatively diversified economy with a considerable manufacturing and agricultural sectors. Today, the manufacturing sector has more or less vanished and per-capita incomes plunge to 15 percent below 1980 levels. There are a number of reasons for that dramatic transformation. An ill-thought out structural reform program imposed in the 1990s, largely at the behest of international institutions like the World Bank, eroded industry rather than boosting it. The neglect of Bulawayo, a once booming centre of industry in the country’s southwest that has been almost entirely denuded of its factories, is widely seen as political punishment being an opposition stronghold. But much of the blame is put down to unsustainable government overspending on social programs, involvement in a war in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1990s, and Mr Mugabe's increasing reliance on a system of patronage to shore-up his legitimacy. Zimbabwe’s GDP per capita has barely reached above $1,000 The latest estimate - for 2011 - suggests that as much as 72.3 per cent of Zimbabwe's population live below the national poverty line. This would mean around 10 million people in the country are suffering in poverty. Such levels are reflected in the country's GDP per capita - which stood at $1,080 in 2017. This metric, which measures a country's economic output while accounting for population, compares to a level of $39,720 in the United Kingdom. Neighbouring South Africa had a GDP per capita of $6,160 in 2017. A country without a currency The Zimbabwean dollar was introduced in 1980 to replace the Rhodesian dollar at a rate of 1:1. It was initially worth more than a US dollar. But hyperinflation in the 2000s - fueled by government overspending - reduced it to one of the least valued currencies on the planet. By 2005 one million Zimbabwe dollars were worth just £1. The currency was effectively abandoned in 2009. Today, the country uses US dollars, but a shortage of hard currency means that for practical purposes many people use “telephone money” - mobile phone credit traded on sim cards. Dollarization brought a sense of stability that attracted some new investment - but poor corporate management practices saw the subsequent influx of money and credit contribute to a non-performing loan crisis. Inflation from hell Although dollarisation in 2009 put a temporary break on the whirlwind inflation that destroyed Zimbabwe’s indigenous currency, there are signs that prices are again rising out of control. Zimstat, the official statistical authority of Zimbabwe, puts inflation at around -0.25 per cent in the year to March 2018, a figure that is being disputed by many economists. Steve Hanke, an economics professor at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, co-authored a paper that claimed hyperinflation - monthly inflation above 50 percent for at least 30 consecutive days - had returned to Zimbabwe. This assertion was based on comparisons of Old Mutual stock price listings on both the London Stock Exchange and the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. The paper found that, based on this measure, monthly inflation had reached a high of 185 per cent in September 2017. Old Mutual stock price comparisons suggest high inflation in Zimbabwe The exodus Meanwhile, the country's demographics have changed remarkably. Zimbabwe's population has more than tripled, from around five million in 1980 to 16.9 million today. But economic and political dysfunction have also fuelled a massive wave of emigration. Hundreds of thousands of people have left Zimbabwe in the last three decades - contributing to significant overseas diaspora in countries including South Africa and the United Kingdom. Over one million people had left by 2017 - a number that has increased while Mr Mugabe was in power. An estimated 177,000 people had left by 1990. The number of people leaving Zimbabwe has steadily increased under Mugabe There is some anecdotal evidence that increasing numbers of diaspora Zimbabweans have begun to spend more time in their home country - though not necessarily moving back - since Mr Mugabe was over thrown. The vanishing white population The country’s White population, once a significant minority that wielded huge economic and political power, has almost completely vanished. Rhodesia's white population was already dwindling from its 1975 peak of 296,000 before independence, as many fled the violence of the Bush war. The process accelerated after independence. Between 1979 and 1985, the white population of Zimbabwe crashed from an estimated 232,000 to 100,000 - a fall of 56.9 per cent. The systematic violent eviction of white farmers during the "land reforms" of the early 2000s prompted another wave of emigration. The latest census, from 2012, puts the number of white people at 28,732 - less than 0.2 percent of the population, and with little of the political or financial clout they once enjoyed. It is thought that there may now be no more than 2000 economically active whites left in the country. Zimbabwe’s white population plummeted after 1980 A great education system falling into ruin Mr Mugabe’s greatest post-independence achievement - and one of Zimbabwe's great historic assets - was the creation of what was once acclaimed as the best education system on the continent. Mugabe inherited the most literate population in Africa in 1980 and quickly expanded the numbers attending secondary school and reopened hundreds of rural schools which closed during the war. But even that achievement has been tarnished. And the degradation of education services and consequent erosion of Zimbabwe's legendary human capital over the past several years has profound implications for hopes of economic recovery. Mr Mugabe inherited the most literate population in Africa in 1980, and rapidly expanded primary and secondary education with a massive school building and teacher recruitment campaign in the years after independence. In 1982 - two years after Mr Mugabe became Prime Minister - some 77.8 percent of the population were literate, according to data from the World Bank. MDC president Nelson Chamisa hopes voters will punish ZANU PF for Mugabes misrule Credit: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP This compared to an average global rate of 70.9 per cent, and a 76.2 per cent rate in neighbouring South Africa (in 1980). But things began to go wrong at the turn of the millennium. Thousands of teachers left the profession and hundreds of schools were effectively closed during the economic crisis of the 2000s. While the rest of the world's literacy rate rose rapidly to 85.8 per cent by 2014, Zimbabwe's progress had slowed, reaching 88.7 per cent. This is far lower than the 94.1 per cent seen in South Africa in the same year. Today Zimbabwe's university degrees are no longer recognized outside the country. Critics say Zimbabwe's literacy rates have not been tested in years, and that the real rates may be considerably lower. Zimbabwe’s literacy rate has historically been high A fragile health system In 2016, there were 40 deaths per 1,000 live births in Zimbabwe. There has been a huge improvement in the twenty-first century, with 62.8 deaths seen per 1,000 just ten years ago. But that masks a story of early strides made in Mr Mugabe's first years in power giving way to crisis. In 1980, there 66.5 infant deaths per 1000 live births in Zimbabwe. That had been reduced to 49.6 in 1988, before rates began to climb again. Average life expectancy dropped from 65 in 1990 to 43 in 2006. The health crisis peaked in 2008, when Zimbabwe suffered the world's second worst cholera outbreak and a currency crisis forced almost every hospital country to close - forcing the country to turn to the UN and international NGOs for relief. As with education, the slow erosion of health care standards coincided with the emerging pattern of massive overspending and the developing of Mr Mugabe's notorious system of patronage schemes, packaging out chunks of land and the economy to key constituencies like veterans of the independence war. A recovery in recent years has been put down to massive foreign donor support, especially for infant and maternal health. But Zimbabwe's only teaching hospital is still regularly unable to perform basic surgery due to a shortage of equipment and drugs. Mugabe's increases in healthcare spending have helped to reduce infant mortality

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Thomas Markle Attacks Meghan Markle, Royal Family In Brutal Interview

Despite assurances he would stop giving interviews about his daughter Meghan,

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What the Homeless Resume Man Tells Us About Viral 'Feel Good' Memes

He wasn't just "hungry 4 success," he had more going for him, too.

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No charges after US police kill man who yelled 'don't shoot'

Blevins took the gun out of his pants pocket and turned towards the officers just before they fired 14 shots, according to the Hennepin County prosecutor's office. Blevins then collapsed and blood began to pool beneath his body, as an officer kicked away a handgun that had fallen to the ground. "Mr Blevins represented a danger to the lives of (the officers)," County Attorney Mike Freeman said in a written statement.

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Deadly California wildfire kills great-grandmother and two children

Grieving relatives described the panicked phone calls they received as fires closed in on their California neighbourhood and their desperate two-day search for an elderly woman and her two great-grandhildren, before discovering they died when flames engulfed their home. The death toll from California’s summer wildfires rose to five at the weekend when fire crews said they had found human remains at a charred home on the outskirts of Redding in the north of the state. More than 38,000 people remain under evacuation orders from a fire that has destroyed more than 500 buildings and continued to rage unchecked into a seventh day yesterday. Melody, 70, and two great-grandchildren – James Roberts, 5, and Emily Roberts, 4 died in the blaze Ed Bledsoe described how he left his home with the family’s only car to run errands on Thursday leaving his wife Melody, 70, and two great-grandchildren – James Roberts, 5, and Emily Roberts, 4 - behind. He told Capital Public Radio his wife telephoned an hour later. “She said, ‘You need to come home right now. The fire’s right next to our house,’” he said. Mr Bledsoe tried to race home but was turned back at roadblocks. The children were “screaming for their lives,” Jason Decker, the boyfriend of another of the Bledsoes’ granddaughters, told the New York Times. “The kids were saying: ‘Papa, papa, come home. The fire’s at the back door.’” Some 3500 firefighters are trying to contain the flames Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Then the line went dead. For two days they searched hospitals and refuges after being told the three had been rescued. But on Saturday, officials said three bodies had been found at what was left of their home. Carla Bledsoe hugs her sister Sherri outside the sheriff's office after hearing news that Sherri's children and grandmother were killed Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP "My babies are dead," Sherry Bledsoe said through tears after she was given the news by sheriff’s deputies. Her children had been in the care of their great-grandparents while she had spent the past four months incarcerated at the county jail. Police tape blocks the house where relatives say three people were found dead following a wildfire in Redding Credit: Jonathan Cooper/AP Two fire service personnel also died last week. President Donald Trump declared the fire an emergency at the weekend, freeing federal funds for disaster relief efforts. Almost 90 fires are burning across western states – stretching from Texas to Oregon – but the most destructive so far is the Carr Fire which has blackened almost 90,000 acres of parched land in California since erupting last Monday. Cal Fire, the state fire brigade, says it was caused by the mechanical failure of a vehicle but has offered no further details about how it began. Homes leveled by the Carr Fire line the Lake Keswick Estates area of Redding Credit: Noah Berger/AP Since then, low humidity, high temperatures and gusting winds have accelerated it into a blazing, unpredictable storm. More than 5000 buildings are at risk as 3,500 firefighters and a squadron of 17 water-dropping helicopters try to contain its flames by carving buffer zones around its advancing fronts. By yesterday(SUN), they said they had managed to contain just 5 percent of the fire's perimeter. Anna Noland, 49, is among those staying at a shelter in Redding. She said she had been forced to flee twice in three days, before learning from video footage that her home had been destroyed. “I think I'm still in shock,” she told the Associated Press. “It's just unbelievable knowing you don't have a house to go back to.”

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Social Media Helped Italian Police Identify a French Skier Lost in the Alps for Decades

An Italian prosecutor asked Facebook users to help crack the cold case

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New MH370 probe shows controls manipulated, but mystery remains unsolved

By Rozanna Latiff KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Investigators released a report on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on Monday, saying the Boeing 777's controls were likely deliberately manipulated to take it off course but they were not able to determine who was responsible. The 495-page report draws no conclusion about what happened aboard the plane that vanished with 239 people on board en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014, leaving one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries unsolved. "The answer can only be conclusive if the wreckage is found," Kok Soo Chon, head of the MH370 safety investigation team, told reporters.

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A Democratic Wave In The Midterms Is Looking More And More Likely

Can we really expect a blue-wave election in November, with Democrats taking

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Polar bear shot dead after attacking cruise ship tour guide as climate change pushes predators closer to human habitats

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Turkey planning summit with France, Germany, Russia: Erdogan

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey is seeking to hold a summit in Istanbul with France, Germany and Russia on September 7 to discuss regional issues including the Syrian conflict, in comments published on Sunday. "We will discuss what we can do in the region together," Erdogan said, quoted by Hurriyet daily.

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Minneapolis Police Release Bodycam Video From the Fatal Blevins Shooting

Footage shows the man shot from behind after a frenetic foot chase

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HHS Official Ximena Barreto Resigns After Scandal Over Anti-Muslim Comments

A Department of Health and Human Services official who shared bigoted memes

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Harley-Davidson unveils new range of electric motorbikes and an electric bicycle

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'Erratic' winds, dry conditions fuel deadly California fires

Around 12,000 firefighters battled Sunday to contain wildfires in California that have killed six people -- but authorities warned "erratic" winds and dry conditions have caused the flames to grow and spread. "Very hot and dry conditions will continue over the West coast states through Sunday," the National Weather Service said early Sunday.

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Anger as MH370 report offers no new clues to aviation's greatest mystery

Investigators said Monday they still do not know why Malaysia's Flight MH370 vanished four years ago in aviation's greatest mystery, sparking anger and disappointment among relatives of those on board. In a long-awaited report the official investigation team pointed to failings by air traffic controllers, said the course of the Malaysia Airlines plane was changed manually, and refused to rule out that someone other than the pilots had diverted the jet. "The team is unable to determine the real cause for the disappearance of MH370," concluded the largely technical 400-page report, noting that investigators were hindered in their probe as neither the plane's wreckage nor its black boxes had been found.

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Terrifying first-person footage shows just how devastating the wildfires in Greece are

First-person footage of flames engulfing a neighborhood shows just how devastating the wildfires in Greece are. A man trying to save his friend's cat caught the wildfire on video as it burned through the trees surrounding his home. Within the video's short span of time, just three-and-a-half minutes, the fire approaches and starts to consume the house. SEE ALSO: Devastating photos show the impact of deadly wildfires in Athens According to an English-language version of a local paper, the Cyprus Times, the person who recorded the video is safe. The severe wildfires near Athens has claimed 91 lives over the past week, the Associated Press says. A number of victims drowned in the sea while trying to flee the fire. According to the Centre for the Research on Epidemiology of Disasters in Brussels, this is the deadliest wildfire Europe has seen since 1900. The fire started on July 23 in Mati, a small village just outside of Athens, and spread without warning. Since then, it's ravaged the coast and prompted Greece to ask for aid from the European Union. During a Sunday memorial service at the local church in Mati, the Holy Synod — a ruling body of bishops in the Greek Orthodox Church — said in a letter that "everyone bears responsibility for protecting the environment from haphazard development." The unprecedented heat waves scorching Europe have been boosted by climate change. According to NOAA, Greece is experiencing one of its hottest years on record. Thanks to a lack of steady rainfall, heavy winds, and extremely dry forests, Greece's "tinderbox conditions" make wildfires almost inevitable. Rising temperatures are an international issue — although we're just over halfway through 2018, global warming is already apparent. WATCH: Veterinarians are using fish skin to help heal bear paw burns from wildfires

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A Democratic Wave In The Midterms Is Looking More And More Likely

Can we really expect a blue-wave election in November, with Democrats taking

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How inhaling wildfire smoke can wreak havoc on your health

Fueled by the tremendous threat of wildfires raging in parts of the United States each year is the growing concern for adverse health effects resulting from smoke exposure.

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Anger as MH370 families say official report offers no new information

A long-awaited official report into the disappearance of Flight MH370 gave no new clues about why the plane vanished, relatives of those on board the aircraft said Monday, expressing anger and disappointment. Family members had been hoping that the official investigation team's report could provide them with some closure, over four years after the Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 239 people went missing. Some angry relatives walked out of the briefing.

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Vietnam minibus crash kills groom and 12 wedding guests

Thirteen people were killed and four injured when a minibus carrying guests on the way to a wedding in central Vietnam collided head-on with a large container truck on Monday, the government said in a statement. The bus was carrying the groom and his family members from Quang Tri province to the bride's home in Binh Dinh province during the early hours of the couple's wedding day. Traffic accidents are common in Vietnam, where traffic laws on busy and badly maintained roads are loosely enforced.

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Fox News Host Confronts Rudy Giuliani Over Michael Cohen 'Liar' Flip-Flop

Rudy Giuliani can't get his story straight on Michael Cohen -- and Fox News

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Iran's rial hits record-low 100,000 to the dollar

Iran's currency hit a record low on Sunday of 100,000 rials to the dollar amid a deepening economic crisis and the imminent return of full US sanctions. The rial has lost half its value against the dollar in just four months, having broken through the 50,000-mark for the first time in March.

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Thomas Markle Attacks Meghan Markle, Royal Family In Brutal Interview

Despite assurances he would stop giving interviews about his daughter Meghan,

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The Latest: Minneapolis cops: Feared for lives in shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Latest on the release of body-camera video in the June fatal shooting of a black man by Minneapolis police (all times local):

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